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Old April 17, 2018   #16
AlittleSalt
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JRinPA, I don't mean to highjack your thread or anything like that, but something pretty cool happened when I tried growing Brussels sprout plants in 2013. I don't remember the variety, but they grew to be about 4' tall. I used to water all the plants in the garden with a hose and sprayer set to 'shower'. The Brussels sprout plants when sprayed at the top would make the water spiral down the main stalk. It's a memory that I won't ever forget.

I've been reading a lot about the rains in OH and PA. Too much rain is too much - no matter how you look at it. I hope it dries up for you.
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Old April 17, 2018   #17
Nan_PA_6b
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRinPA View Post
...This is the time of year when the grow light table gets really crowded.
Preach it, bro!

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Old April 17, 2018   #18
Adenn1
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I put in some beet, lettuce and snap pea transplants that I picked up at Wolff's Apple House outside Media. They went into raised beds for my son who lives out in KOP area. Not sure how they are now after the rain we got. I had put in some bush bean and snow pea seeds in on Sunday. May have to re-seed. I usually put peppers and tomatoes in around Mother's Day
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Old April 17, 2018   #19
PureHarvest
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I bet you guys will get below freezing tonight.
Broccoli and their relatives are cold tolerant WHEN they are established bigger plants. Seedlings that are not rooted in and larger will get killed by frost.
One year we had 28 degrees in mid-May, and it killed all my broccoli plants that had ben in the ground for a MONTH.

Might want to cover up before the sun goes down.
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Old April 17, 2018   #20
brownrexx
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2 1/2" of rain here and I saw a quote by a gardening writer in a local newspaper. He said that PA has "Too Weather" meaning that it is always too windy, too cold, too hot, too wet or too dry.

It is never perfect and isn't that too true!
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Old April 17, 2018   #21
Nan_PA_6b
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Bush beans are warm weather plants; seed them when you plant out your tomatoes.

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Old April 18, 2018   #22
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I did get all my plants in Saturday but in retrospect, I should have waited for a cloudy day, they wilted like crazy lol. I checked the 10 day and all looked good with the exception of one day being 39°F so I figured I would go for it.
Two days so far have been 37°F low and Thursday-Friday the 19-21st, it's supposed to be 38°F for a low it even snowed yesterday for a bit.
It really peeves me that the forecast dropped at least 5 degrees the day after I checked the 10 day.

It rained for nearly two days and everything was flooded, checked my plants this morning and all are doing well with the exception of a few tomato plants and a cape gooseberry out front, I think the wind beat them to death.
Last years kale has been growing nicely. no signs of my Black seeded simpson and Romaine that I broadcast seeded several weeks ago.

Planted Peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, lovage, cantaloupe, zucchini, Artichokes, Maypops

Sowed my Table Dainty Squash, Spaghetti Squash, Yard Long Beans
Bok Choy is growing nicely, cabbages are slow to no growth, Peas are coming up and I believe all my 3 year old asparagus plants are dead with the exception of 1, this has me a bit down.

Basil, perpetual spinach and parsley will go out Sunday and I'll sow some chard in some bare spots.

I may wait another few weeks to plant my Marigolds and Hardy Kiwi's.


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Old April 18, 2018   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brownrexx View Post
2 1/2" of rain here and I saw a quote by a gardening writer in a local newspaper. He said that PA has "Too Weather" meaning that it is always too windy, too cold, too hot, too wet or too dry.

It is never perfect and isn't that too true!
I agree with the exception of TOO Dry, haven't seen that in many years
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Old April 18, 2018   #24
JRinPA
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It was flurrying here yesterday as well.

I checked forecast yesterday and it still seemed okay for today so I decided to put out my broccoli and cauliflower. While at the garden, I checked the temp in one of the raised rows where the peas are coming up: 42F at noon. From my notes, that bed was 44F at the time I sowed those peas...four weeks back!

The stuff today went in through black plastic mulch I put down last week. What I do for bed prep is fork deeply and raise it a bit, then lay down finished compost and firm it down some, and finally lay black mulch to trap heat and deter weeds. On planting day I let the soil blocks soak for a few minutes, cut a hole with trowel, drop in transplant and backfill around the block. It was sunny and windy today - I wasn't expecting the wind - and they looked pretty haggard by the time I was finished. I put AG19 hoops over top. We'll see how it turns out, I guess. If they don't make it, I have some left.

Now, I just checked the weather a half hour ago and the forecast for Thurs-Fri nights for me dropped from 38F to 32F and 25mph gusts. Tonight, 41 and calmish, tomorrow only up to 46. Our pear tree is loaded with buds and about to pop flowers out. If it stays windy I guess it will be okay, but it will lose a lot if it gets cold and still.

I was planning to put out some lettuce before it got dark, but with that 32F tomorrow night, I won't risk it. Those would be difficult to cover.
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Old April 18, 2018   #25
JRinPA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SQWIBB View Post

It really peeves me that the forecasts dropped at least 5 degrees the day after I checked the 10 day.

It rained for nearly two days and everything was flooded, checked my plants this morning and all are doing well with the exception of a few tomato plants and a cape gooseberry out front, I think the wind beat them to death.
That what I am noticing, rather consistently it seems, these forecast are very...favorable? positive thinking? and then they just keep dropping. I try to keep my old browser windows up, without refreshing them, and it is a pretty clear trend. I don't know what algorithm they are using to predict but it doesn't seem to be very accurate this spring.
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Old April 19, 2018   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRinPA View Post
That what I am noticing, rather consistently it seems, these forecast are very...favorable? positive thinking? and then they just keep dropping. I try to keep my old browser windows up, without refreshing them, and it is a pretty clear trend. I don't know what algorithm they are using to predict but it doesn't seem to be very accurate this spring.
Agreed, they do however seem to be pretty good predicting the precipitation.

The last several years my goal has been to get the plants in when the 10 day shows the coldest day being 40, I check the 10 day April 15th, I was going to bump my planting temp up to 43 but then I would be planting in June!!

I lost a 2 plants and 2 are struggling but that was my fault, I planted in afternoon sun, I'm still smacking myself for that. After the poor plants being baked all day we got heavy winds and nasty rain, it's amazing I still have the pointing intact on the side of my house. lol.

I guess thats not too bad considering I put in near 60 plants.
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Old May 5, 2018   #27
JRinPA
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I ended up putting out my brocolli and cauliflower on that Wednesday, four days after the OP. During the next week it went down below freezing a couple times and one of those nights it was 25F here on the carport. The ground was moist and with black bio mulch down I did not water them again until a few days ago, then again today. The ground around here is now bone dry. The last couple days there have been evening fronts rolling through, but we just get a little spattering here while my brother's place just a bit north near Fogelsville gets drenched. I really should get some kind of drip line system set up for my 20 and 30 foot raised beds here at the house - I have too much to water at too many spots.

A week or so back I gave my brother the better brocolli seedlings that I had left over. Today was the fourth and final day in the 80s so I figured I should probably water again, and took the remaining backup plants along. I replaced one of the cauliflower that seemed small yet, added the best brocolli I had left to the end of that bed, and culled out some of the twins. There are some burned leaves, I think from those cold nights, and some yellowed coteyledons from either heat or dry or age, but in general they look as good or better than my leftovers so I just replaced that one plant. Had I known it would get that cold, I would have waited the extra week, but they did okay I guess.

The peas that germinated look fine, but smaller than I've ever seen for May. Last week I filled in some stretches of peas that rotted, and a few of those are just barely showing. Lettuce started under glass in late March looks fine, lettuce started under glass in mid April looks fine, but spinach started under glass both times is very small in comparison to transplants. I think I will stick to starting spinach inside, nice and early. Swiss Chard from late March seems small yet. Radish and turnips popped right up, of course. Carrots... coming very slowly. I need to get some parsnip seed and get it in soon.

Our pear tree bloomed this week and that timed out well. I will need to cull a lot or risk broken limbs in August; it is loaded.

I think my biggest problem is I never seem to start the spring crops early enough, so they are not big/tough as they need to be when they should go out. Another problem, apparently no one else spells brocolli the same as I do. Broc ol li. I say it that way, I should be able to spell it that way...







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Old May 5, 2018   #28
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Today was a good day to plant out in PA. I got my first 24 tomato plants planted out today.

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Old May 7, 2018   #29
JRinPA
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I'm holding off...mine are only 2 weeks old. I don't see an 80F in the 10 day, here. I agree it was a great day though - got some rain finally, and I transplanted spinach and chard from seedling rows to their growing spots, and remaining lettuce, brocolli, and cauliflower from their flats. Also got some pea trellis up.
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Old May 7, 2018   #30
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Mine went in the ground on Thursday- the 2 week forecast looks really good as far as lows here. You definitely had lows that missed us, JR. Our last night in the 20s was Apr. 11th.

Two-week old plants probably need some more time in their pots and they'll really take off when the weather gets hot. In the mean time there's plenty to keep us busy, right?
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